


Welcome to My Life

by hhertzof



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-31
Updated: 2010-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-14 06:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/pseuds/hhertzof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the only sensible option is to get drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to My Life

Sarah knocked, hoping she had the right door. It wasn't as though they were close friends; they'd barely met. But he'd looked like he could use a friend.

It opened. "Oh, it's you. Come in. Can I fix you a drink?" Turlough already had a drink in his hand.

Sarah couldn't blame him. It had been a long and trying day. "I don't--do you have whiskey?" She accepted a glass of amber liquid gratefully. "How does it feel to finally be home?" She curled up in the armchair, kicking off her shoes. She'd been placed on the same floor, but she hadn't rated a lounge.

"Different." He sounded tired. "This has just been the prelude. Alsenbach is going to be--" he broke off, not having the words.

"Complicated," Sarah offered.

"Yeah. Somewhere along the line I became an adult. I get to take care of my little brother, and keep the refugees from imploding and I just--" he broke off with a significant glance, which Sarah read as the possibility that someone was listening in--someone who might understand even though they were speaking English, "I understand why Thalia wanted to be an architect rather than Ket. I've always understood that." He looked over at her. "And I get to rant at an almost total stranger."

Sarah took a sip of her whiskey, decided it was good and took a longer swig. "Who else is there to rant at?"

"No one," he raised his glass to her in salute before downing in. "More?"

She held out her glass. "You'll survive. It's what we're best at. Shaking our fists at destiny and moving on from there."

Turlough snorted at this. "If the Heraldists could see us now."

"Are you sure it's wise, my travelling with you to Alsenbach?" Sarah asked idly.

"They've had me marked since I got lost in that snowstorm when I was eight." Turlough took another long draught. "I'm sure they'll love you," he added sarcastically.

Sarah laughed almost brittlely. "Our lives are too damned complicated." She held up her glass for a toast, then downed it.

Turlough refilled both their glasses. "Y'know the only time my life has ever been even relatively peaceful was travelling with the Doctor."

"You and me both. There was this illusion that we could do whatever we desired. Of course what we always ended up doing was righting wrongs and fighting the good fight, but now I--," she paused "Oh, never mind." She stared at her companion, who had slumped on the sofa with a glass in his hand. "How old are you anyway? You don't look twenty-nine." Maybe he was. The Doctor certainly didn't look his age.

"Nineteen," he seemed amused by this. "At least by my count. Not that it matters. By the Desjani count, I'm twenty-nine and still not old enough to handle my own finances."

"And in Alsenbach?"

"I'll be counted as nineteen and of age in all aspects of law. I'm not sure Keran Whatsherface will accept that though. Astera--Arestia, that's it. It's going to be bad enough getting my brother orientated--at least he _knows_ that he doesn't know things. I get the impression that my new baby-sitter is accustomed to knowing everything." And possibly spying for Desjani or Lios or both hung in the air unsaid.

Perhaps it would be better to change the subject. Sarah got up abruptly and walked to the window. The lights of the city twinkled at her. "I never thought I'd see an alien planet again. The view here is spectacular."

"Better than you'll get in Alsenbach. There isn't much city there. The population's under 5,000 people. Maybe a little more when we absorb the Sarn refugees. But the view of the mountains from the Kettan is amazing." He'd come up behind her, soundlessly. "There's WorldGov Tower, or whatever they're calling it now. And there, in the centre is the Senate Building." He went on to point out a few other landmarks, dutifully.

"You don't like it here," she turned to look at him.

"I'm a true Southerner, I fear. Can't be bothered with Northern drama." He leaned against the window and studied her. "I miss the mountains. I miss my tiny postage-stamp sized Ruritanian country with its quaint laws and customs. But that peace is an illusion too."

This was going to break him. If what she'd seen at the trial was a good indicator, there were too many people with too many expectations watching him way too closely. "Turlough, if you could do one thing now, and damn the consequences, what would it be? Just one stupid thing before you let adult responsibilities consume your life."

He traced a line along her cheek. "Ask me a difficult question." One finger tipped up her chin and his mouth covered hers in a kiss.

She should have broken it off; told him he was too young. But he tasted so good and it had been so long. "Bed?"

Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. "Are you going to be comfortable with this in the morning, Sarah? Or is this just the alcohol talking?"

"You're not the only one who needs to not think tonight," Sarah caught at his hand and drew him towards the bedroom. "And maybe I'm just flattered. I'm not as young as I used to be. You may regret this when you see me in the morning light."

"You underestimate yourself, Sarah Jane Smith." A smile played across his lips. "Bed it is. We can deal with the fallout in the morning."


End file.
